State

SACRAMENTO – Being Ready for Wildfire has never been easier with Cal Fire’s new Ready for Wildfire app. This new tool puts a whole library of step-by-step checklists in the palm of the user’s hand. It allows homeowners to track their progress while creating Defensible Space, hardening their homes with fire-resistant construction, assembling an emergency supply kit and creating a ...

YOSEMITE — Yosemite National Park will waive park entrance fees on the weekends of National Park Week, Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 15 – 16, and Apr. 22-23, 2017. National Park Week is a week-long celebration of our National Parks celebrated at National Park Service sites across the United States. Fees being waived for the weekends of National Park Week include ...

YOSEMITE — After years of drought, the central Sierra has experienced much welcome precipitation, and reports from the higher elevations of Yosemite National Park are encouraging. Park staff have completed the April 1 snow surveys, and report that the water content of the snowpack in the Tuolumne drainage is 177 percent of average. In the Merced drainage it is 168 ...

YOSEMITE — Yosemite National Park reports that significant progress has been made on repairs to the Big Oak Flat road. Road crews have hit the bottom of an underground spring that caused soils to erode, and are working to stabilize and rebuild the road. The park pledges to announce an opening date for the Big Oak Flat road as soon ...

SACRAMENTO — Smoking remains the number one cause of preventable death and disease in California. About 3.1 million, or one out of nine, California adults smoke, and an estimated 34,000 Californians die from smoking-related diseases each year. On April 1, the tax on a pack of cigarettes will increase $2, from $0.87 to $2.87. This increase is a result of ...

YOSEMITE — Yosemite National Park continues to repair the Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120 West) leading to Yosemite Valley from Crane Flat to Foresta Junction. The road has been closed since late February. Severe winter storms that have given new life to an underground spring have caused saturated, heavy soils under the road to slide downhill. Over 200 feet ...

YOSEMITE – Yosemite Conservancy is providing $12 million in support to Yosemite National Park for 34 projects in 2017 including building a new trail to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias along a historic stage-coach route, restoring bee, butterfly and hummingbird habitat, and studying species in Ackerson Meadow, the newest area of the park. “Incredible work is being done in ...

YOSEMITE — After being closed for nearly three weeks for major repairs, Highway 41 into Yosemite reopened yesterday afternoon to one-way traffic. However, Highway 120 remains closed due to severe road damage. Yosemite National Park continues work to repair the Big Oak Flat Road (continuation of Highway 120 ) leading to Yosemite Valley. Severe winter storms have impacted the road ...

SAN FRANCISCO — While recreational marijuana cannot be sold in California until January 2018, PG&E has announced that existing medical marijuana growers and future recreational marijuana growers will be eligible as of Mar. 1 for PG&E’s agricultural energy rate. The passage of Proposition 64 in November 2016 allows the state to license and regulate recreational marijuana cultivation and businesses. “Cannabis ...

YOSEMITE — Yosemite National Park is moving forward with repairs to the damaged Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120 West) leading to Yosemite Valley. Severe storms have impacted the road and it continues to be unsafe for vehicular travel. The road has been closed since late February between Crane Valley and Foresta. The Federal Highways Administration has selected a contractor ...